A Bonus Chapter from Ten Year Old Elias
I looked up at Yessica. Her long, black hair trailed behind her like the train of a wedding dress. She noticed my stare and I quickly turned away.
“Yes, Viraclay?” There was a smile in her voice.
I was embarrassed because I had nothing to say. I was simply admiring her beauty.
“I—has your hair always been that long?” It was the first thing that came to mind.
She stopped walking. “Should we get a Che Ba Mau and discuss it?”
My mouth began to water. The three colored dessert was delicious, especially on a hot day. I nodded enthusiastically.
There were many street vendors lining the roads in Hoa Lu, the ancient capital city of Vietnam. Although the city no longer served as the country’s capital it was still a bustling place. My parents built a Haven here hundreds of years ago within a large limestone mountain. This was the first time we had been here since I was two. But after only a couple days I felt very comfortable in this place and with its people. The Vietnamese were very friendly, just as my mother said they would be. We arrived in Hanoi the night before last, after having been in Argentina for several months. Yessica joined us two and half weeks ago. My parents said that Lucas was off running errands and Yessica would be traveling with us for a while. I wondered if our decision to leave Argentina had anything to do with Yessica staying with us? My parents would not tell me if it did. They did not feel I was old enough to understand such matters.
“Viraclay?” Yessica interrupted my thoughts. “Perhaps I should drink them both?”
I blushed when I realized she had been holding on to my Che Ba Mau, patiently waiting for me to take it while I got lost in my thoughts.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was daydreaming, I guess.”
“Nothing wrong with that dear child. Do it as often and as vividly as you can.” She handed me my cup. “Let us find a seat, over there.”
She pointed to a small grassy patch between buildings. We walked in silence as we enjoyed spoonfuls of the sweet treat.
Once we were seated, Yessica began to answer the silly question I nearly forgot I had asked. “I have not always had long hair. It is interesting, we conduits do not change once we consummate, all except for one thing—our hair still grows. Why do you think that is?”
I shrugged.
“Lucas thinks I am ridiculous for wondering about such things, things we will likely never know the answers to. But I think it’s fun, don’t you?”
“You make everything fun.” I insisted.
She smiled widely. Yessica’s teeth were big and perfectly straight. She had darker skin than me and her thick, black hair always intrigued me. Was it heavy? Was it soft? Why wasn’t everyone’s hair that shiny? Perhaps it was because she was a lantern. Maybe sunlight illuminated her hair. I smiled at that thought.
“What is making you smile?” She caught me off guard again.
“I was thinking your hair was shiny and maybe it was because you manipulate light.”
That made her grin again. “Maybe you’re right. See, you also like questions, like me.”
We finished up our snack and Yessica decided it was time to get back to the mountain retreat. It was an easy walk, flat ground covered in green grass with the looming presence of limestone mountains scattered about. They were not the shapes of normal mountains. Instead, they were steep with all sorts of odd angles. My mother said the different formations were the result of the rain eroding the limestone. We strode along the winding riverside for half of the journey before making our way off the worn path and into the long grasses.
The entrance to the retreat required that you disarm the ward. Yessica did it effortlessly with a flick of her wrist and a few words in Asagi. I had to pull my eyes away from gawking again, she was so fluid, so lady-like.
“Sorcey, Cane, we’re home.” Yessica’s voice echoed through the tall corridors and the large rooms.
My mother appeared at my back and took hold of my shoulders. “How did you like Hoa Lu, my son?”
I turned to see her face. “It was nice. Yessica and I had another one of those three colored drinks.”
My mother’s face lit up and she chuckled softly. “I think she is spoiling you.” She took me in her arms and hugged me tightly. “I understand why, it is easy to do.”
“What did you and father do this morning?” It was a polite question, but it would not warrant any real answers.
“Nothing of your concern.” She tussled my hair with her hand. “I want to try one of these three colored treats you are going on about.” Yessica was now in the lounge area, sitting on a small sofa. “Yessica, do you think the four of us should make an evening of it? We can head into the ancient capital, enjoy some food and drink, capping off the night with another one of these renowned sweets you have gotten my son addicted to.”
I took a seat as I reasoned. “I am not addicted, but they are tasty.”
“I can see him drooling now.” My father appeared in the archway that led to his study. “I must have one now, maybe we shouldn’t wait.” He teased as he plopped down beside me on the chase.
My mother was still standing. She shook her finger at us both playfully. “Cane Kraus, you will do no such thing. Our son needs nourishment, not just decadence.”
Yessica just smiled on at the spectacle my parents were making. She was like family. This was not the first time she had seen my parents play out this exact same production, but last time it was over brownies or maybe it was warm chocolate chip cookies. I had a sweet tooth, and everyone knew it.
“You’re right as always mother.” My father gave me a playful eye-roll. “Perhaps our boy would accompany me to Chaucer’s viewing deck instead?”
I jumped from my seat. “Now? Can we go now?” Chaucer was the name of our Vietnam Haven. I hadn’t got to know him well yet but my father seemed very fond of this residence.
My father laughed boisterously. “I believe he would like to go now.”
The night we arrived and I got the formal tour of our home for the time being, my father told me about a viewing deck that encompassed the top of the mountain. But he could not remember where the entrance was. His description of the deck made it very enticing. He said it spanned from not only this mountain but the two closest ones as well, connected by invisible suspension bridges. We would be able to see for miles and miles.
I took hold of my father’s arm because he still had not gotten up from where he sat and dragged him to his feet. “Let’s go.”
Mother took a seat beside Yessica as I pulled my father toward the hall.
“See you ladies after a while.” He waved with his free hand and then picked up the pace with me to show me the way since I had no idea where I was going.
“This way my boy.” He said as the corridor grew dark. I had grown accustom to this, my parents wanted me to have better senses than most Unconsu so they constantly tested them. Often, I was required to make my way through the dark, follow the voices or scents to manage my way back into a lit area. I could smell and hear my father, so this would be easy. He was a few feet ahead of me. This passage was wide and cool. Moisture clung to the ceiling, an occasional drop would fall.
The ground beneath my feet began to incline. Cautiously I moved forward.
“You are doing excellent.” He assured me. This gave me the confidence to move faster, but suddenly the incline turned to steps and I stumbled. I lurched forward landing hard on my hands. “I said you were doing excellent. I did not say get careless.”
I frowned at him in the dark, “I can see that. Wipe that scowl off your face. This is a good lesson to learn in life my son. Do not let praise or seeming ease, go to your head and fog it with arrogance. The sure foot is the cautious one. I was praising your caution, not your footing.”
I knew this lesson. I should have known better. “Yes, father.” I got to my feet and brushed off my hands. There were some scrapes and one large gash. I clasped my hands together and let my intention saturate the wounds as my mother had taught me. The sensation of itching and heeling radiated in my palms and I was all mended. I resumed my cautious pace, counting the steps as we climbed because I would most assuredly be descending the steps in the dark as well.
Eighty-seven steps later my father’s hand stopped me at the top. He spoke very softly in Asagi, “Lestilu jes duedaltho,” the phrase translated to, “Walk among the clouds.”
The wall dissolved in front of us exposing a clear blue sky and warm fresh air. I took a deep breath and followed my father as he stepped out onto nothing.
I looked below me. I could not see the surface I stood on, only the long drop to the ground.
“How can I tell where to step?” I asked nervously. I looked for some sort of sign, a signal of where the invisible deck and bridges were, but there was nothing.
“Look up my son.”
My eyes met the horizon and it was as breathtaking as my father had said it would be. The countryside went on forever, green grass, large mountains, rivers and streams.
“Sometimes we are so consumed by the appearance of our circumstance that we do not take the time to admire the beauty around us.”
Another lesson, everything had a lesson.
We stood there in silence for a long time before my father began to move around the invisible platform. “Use your intuition, you’ll know where to step.” Was all he said before he began to traipse across the sky to the next mountain. “Oh, and do not attempt to follow my footsteps, make your own way, otherwise you may fall.”
“What?! Father?” But he had said all that he would, and I was now meant to find my own way. I took some deep breaths to center myself, time to follow my intuition. The mountain was directly in front of me. Intuitively I should continue straight ahead. My heart thundered in my chest and it was all I could hear in my ears. I lifted my leg and planted it down, there was something there. I moved my other foot, after a few steps this way I started moving more purposefully.
Eventually I made it to where my father stood on the adjacent mountain.
“Great job my son! You pushed past your fear and trusted your intuition.” He leaned down and patted me on the shoulder. “I am proud of you.”
I looked back at the invisible journey I just took and thought about how certain I was that I would fall, but yet here I was on the other side.
“Now there is something I must tell you.” By the smile on his face, I knew it would be at my expense. “You cannot fall, the structure that holds you runs a mile in every direction. You could not have believed I would let you plummet to your death?”
My cheeks got red and a spot of anger swelled up before subsiding. Deep down I knew he would never let me fall. “I knew that.” I also knew there were many valuable lessons in this single happening and that I would do my best to remember them all.
We spent the rest of the afternoon, until dusk, playing and running from one mountain to the next. It was the most fun I had had with my father in a long time.
***
“Are you ready gentlemen?” My mother was dressed in a long green dress. She waited patiently beside Yessica in the corridor.
I had showered quickly after we had made it down from the viewing deck.
My father appeared by my side. “I am ready for Pho, how about you ladies?”
“That sounds delicious.” Yessica agreed.
The four of us walked casually into town while my father filled them in on our escapades in the clouds. I chimed in to add my own commentary every so often, but my father was a better story teller.
Dinner took place in a small restaurant in the center of town. The Pho was delicious, better than I remembered ever having before. And that said a lot because my mother loved Pho, so we partook in it all around the world.
The very same cart we ordered our Che Ba Mau from earlier in the day was still there so we decided to order from there again. An old man attended the cart. I hadn’t noticed him earlier in the day because I was too captivated by Yessica. This time I examined him. He wore a large straw hat to avoid the heat of the sun. His eyes looked tired but his face lit up when he saw us approaching.
Yessica spoke fluent Vietnamese and asked for four cups. I watched as he quietly layered each piece of the dessert; green, red and white layers until they reached the top of the glass jar. He was nearly finished with the last cup when I heard the glass breaking. Somehow my brain had not registered the sight of the jars flying in the air when the cart was struck by my father’s body. Instead, all I heard was shattering glass.
I turned around just as my mother ushered me behind her. Yessica stood just in front of my mother and my father was collecting himself from where he had landed after colliding with the cart. The old man was gone, sensing the danger before even I could. Five hooded figures stood before us, silently weighing their opponents, determining their strategy. I had been trained enough in combat by now to understand that we were in a stand-off.
Yessica whispered, although it was unnecessary because any conduit would be able to hear her. “You have to get him out of here.”
“But what if they are here for you? Lucas said there were five Nebas following you.” My mother countered.
“She is right Sorcey, having Elias here will only leave us all vulnerable. Get him out of here. I will defend Yessica.” My father commanded.
“There are too many Cane.” Desperation leached into my mother’s voice as she looked on at her husband, then to Yessica and finally down at me. When her eyes met mine, I saw that we would run. I wanted to contest but my voice would not work. Fear had crept in. I looked around. Anyone who was in the surrounding area had scattered. Whatever confrontation this was had them so frightened they did not even wish to spectate.
My mother took my hand but no sooner did I feel her fingers than they were ripped away by force. The hooded conduits had begun their attack, the first making contact with my mother, kicking her in the chest and launching her across the street into the grassed area where Yessica and I had sat only earlier today.
A huge blinding ray of light erupted from Yessica’s hands surrounding the three of us. This prevented a clear line of sight for the mob, but my mother was too far out, she wasn’t covered.
“Mother!” I screamed as I saw a large figure loping toward her. Instantly she was on her feet. My father appeared at her side, stepping out from the ray of blinding light to protect her. I moved in closer to Yessica but never took my eyes off of my parents. The hooded figure extended their arm and my mother instantly fell to the ground clutching both her feet. Something was wrong with her feet.
“Get up!” I screamed. My father began to grow and grow and grow until he was the size of the two-story building behind him. He stepped in front of my mother and with a single sweep of his hand sent the assailant flying. The body hit a tree hard and when he rose, he was no longer hooded.
My father’s voice was loud and deep from his transformation. The ground shook when he spoke. “Akiva, I knew that was you.” My father bounded forward. “Try to use that weapon against giant’s bones!” He roared and took off toward Akiva. My father glanced at my mother over his shoulder and I knew that meant she was coming to grab me and usher me to safety.
I looked forward to see the other four assassins had surrounded us. One was pushing past the blinding light, which I had to assume was also hot by the way his clothes were smoking.
The figure barreled through but instead of tackling Yessica he came for me. His hot robes burned my skin. Yessica reached for me but it was too late. I was scooped up and unable to move under his vice.
I heard my mother’s scream. Yessica dropped her light and turned to grab ahold of the abductor. She hooked her right arm around their neck. I saw her climb atop their back as my mother slid in underneath them, brandishing a small knife and slicing the achilles tendons entirely. The assassin fell on top of me, Yessica on top of him. I saw her exotic, almond eyes look at me with relief just before she was ripped from my sight. My mother dragged me in the other direction and I looked behind to see Yessica fending off the other three men behind us.
“Mother, they are going to kill her!” I shouted. “You have to go back!”
She ignored me, threw me over her shoulder and began to run. I saw my father’s gigantic form storm toward the mob that had ascended on Yessica and then we turned a corner and there was nothing left to see. The sound of conduit flesh ripping echoed down the small alley and I did not know if I would ever see my father or Yessica alive again.
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